I think the long and short of it is, what floats my boat might not do it for someone else. If you're planning on taking the odd flight at weekends and bank holidays around the UK, do your PPL at home.
However if you want to go down the career route, I can't really argue with the US. I'm very lucky that I did my homework on PPRuNe last year - a few of the other Europeans I know out here aren't as happy as me, especially when they compare what I'm getting to what they have paid, however overall when they look at the US and the UK/Spain they still feel justified by coming out here.
I would also echo the comment made by B2N2, people come out here all the time from the UK to do FAA IR's for around $5,000 then convert back home for a fraction of the price of a JAA IR, I'm not 100% but you might actually end up with more hours and two licences, opening up November registered aircraft in addition to Golf.